Khabib Nurmagomedov is taking a look back at the fights he missed out on.
Former lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov will go down as one of the best lightweights to have ever fought in the UFC. He retired back in 2020 with an astonishing record of 29-0 and is now a member of The UFC Hall of Fame. During his run in the lightweight division, Nurmagomedov faced some of the toughest fighters at the weight. He was never beaten and walked away while still at the top of his game. Now, thriving in retirement, Nurmagomedov is taking a look back at the three fights he wished he had during his UFC run.
Khabib Nurmagomedov names the three fighters we wished he had faced in the UFC
Since retirement, Nurmagomedov has been keeping busy. He has stepped into the shoes of his late father as coach and mentor for some of Dagestan’s best MMA fighters. He is also running his own MMA promotion called Eagle FC. In addition to all of his MMA ventures, he is also doing some personal appearances. In one of his most recent appearances, for Class A Events in partnership with Penny Appeal Canada at Meridian Hall in Toronto, he spoke about a few fights that eluded him throughout his career. He named three bouts he wished he had during his UFC run. The first he named was Georges St-Pierre after much hooting from the Canadian crowd.
“GSP okay, if you guys want, but I respect this guy a lot. You know, I grew up with his fights, you know, when he become UFC champion 2007 and I don’t beginning my professional career, I was amateur fighter, and I watch a lot of his fights with my father,” he said via MMA Junkie. “GSP was like, you know, like role model in MMA for me, you know, and if you guys want fight, okay, let’s say GSP because we’re here we just talk, you know, we can say whatever we want. But of course, like it was Tony Ferguson for sure. For sure, but this has never happened. And you know, Tony Ferguson and GSP.”
Nurmagomedov also mentioned Tony Ferguson to his wishlist. These two men were matched up five times but the fights never panned out. Either sickness, injury, or the pandemic always kept them apart. To this day, Ferguson still wants that fight with Nurmagomedov and is continuing to call him out. There is another former lightweight champion on his list.
“I think it was 2014, 15 when Anthony Pettis was UFC champion. At that time I really really want to fight with this guy, but then he lost his title vs. Rafeal dos Anjos,” he said. “After that, his career go down. He never come back. And it was Anthony Pettis, Tony Ferguson, and Canadian superstar GSP.”
Surly if Nurmagomedov were to decide to return to the UFC he would have his choice of any man to fight. He seems perfectly happy in retirement and reiterated his desire to help the next generation of his team succeed. His cousin Usman Nurmagomedov just recently became Bellator lightweight champion.
